


Doll's Eyes

by Mable



Series: ARI Nightmares [5]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Claustrophobia, Fazbear Frights, Lottie and Liz solve a mystery, Poltergeist, haunted doll - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24601528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mable/pseuds/Mable
Summary: A lone doll is stalking a woman relentlessly and Lizzie accepts Charlie's help in trying to figure out why. Neither are prepared for the night ahead or the answers they will find...
Series: ARI Nightmares [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627642
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	Doll's Eyes

The moment her eyes opened and she realized it was still nighttime she was overwhelmed by fear. She broke into a sweat as her heartbeat quickened, waiting for that familiar sound that she knew was going to come. Twenty seconds of silence passed but the fear did not wane. She stood fully on guard waiting for it to pass, hoping that tonight it would.

Then it began. The soft tapping on the glass of her bedroom window behind her. She had thought that she closed the curtains but from the low glow on the opposite wall it was apparent that they were open again. She didn't dare look back and see what it was, illuminated in the gloomy light of the night sky. She forced herself to take slow, languid breaths and tried to ride through it. It would leave, it always would.

Except the tapping got closer tonight. No longer the sound of porcelain on glass, it was not something else. Something pattering on her bedroom floor. She had heard this sound before too, but tonight she was determined not to face it, not to let it win. She kept her eyes closed tightly as the pats reached the bed behind her. They always stopped.

This time they didn't. This time she started to hear something new added in. Dripping, a faint gasp like wind through a hollow body, rattling as got closer to her. All the while she tried to hold out. Tried to keep her eyes closed and held her breath as she waited for it to stop.

Until she felt the weight pressing on the bed behind her and the brushing of cold hair on her cheek.

The woman sat up abruptly with a loud gasp and turned around to see that nothing was on her bed. She looked to the window and saw it staring inside. She recognized the shape and could feel the lifeless eyes burying into her skin. It was back again, watching her, waiting for her to let her guard down so it could creep closer.

With a barely stifled scream, she reached over and turned on her bedside lamp. As soon as light filled the room it was gone, but it hadn't disappeared. It wasn't a hallucination dispelled by the light, just had dropped down under the window and vanished into the night. But she knew it would be back. Looking at the clock she saw that it was only one thirty-seven in the morning. There was plenty of time for it to come back.

With that realization, Delilah hunched over and began to weep in frustration. It always came back.

* * *

The moment Lizzie saw the deluge of messages waiting for her at the front desk's phone, she knew today was going to be a rough one. She sighed as she settled into her chair and pressed the button to play them.

" **Friday, 1:43AM:** _'Hello. My name's Delilah and I have a problem with what I think is a small robot or animatronic. If you could call me back as soon you open, I would appreciate it. Thank you."_

The woman on the phone sounded distressed. While she kept her composure well, it was evident from her stuffed nose that she had been recently crying. Lizzie sympathized, but then got a tinge of dread when she remembered exactly how many messages were left for her.

" **Friday, 2:17AM:** _'Hey, this is Delilah again. I forgot to leave my number and I wanted to call back and leave it because I really need you to call me back. Please. As soon as you open, I don't care how early it is. I just… I need help… My number is-."_

She listed off her number- Lizzie jotted it down- and ended the message with a simple 'thank you'. She sounded more desperate this time, but not in immediate danger. Which was good, because apparently she didn't have or didn't know about their off-hour's numbers. Must've meant she got their number out of the phone book. An interesting thought because that suggested this was a sudden decision.

" **Friday, 2:31AM:** _'It's me again. I just- I didn't tell you how serious this is. I'm at the end of my rope. There is this doll that keeps coming by my house every night and trying to get inside, and I can't put up with it anymore. I can't sleep, I can't ignore, and it keeps coming back. It's outside right now and the police won't do anything, and I'm fed up. I can't keep doing this… I'm sorry. I probably sound crazy, but I'm just so exhausted… Please, please call me back."_

It was at that point that the messages began to devolve even further, and Lizzie finally got a real picture of the problem at hand.

" **Friday, 4:05AM:** _'She's back outside again. She just keeps coming back, every time I start to fall asleep- I'm going to try to take some pictures and get some sleep, but I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I'm exhausted."_

And then, just when it couldn't get any worse-.

" **Friday, 8:50AM:** _'It's me. I'm going to be in late today. Ben caught some sort of plague overnight and I'm up here at the walk-in clinic waiting to get him in. I don't trust him to stick around if I leave. If all goes well, I should be there in about an hour. Call me beforehand if you need me to pick up anything. See you then."_

There was the confirmation that Lizzie was the one saddled with this job. Then again, the woman sounded so frantic that maybe she needed a gentler hand. Typically, Lizzie wasn't the gentle type, but in comparison to Michael's bluntness she could come off as a softer touch. She decided to bite the bullet and erased all the messages before picking up the phone and dialing the number. The woman answered on the first ring.

" _Hello?"_

"Hello, this is Liz with Afton robotics." She was interrupted by the woman giving a mutter of 'thank goodness!' under her breath. "I got your messages and I think we can help. Can we meet up and talk?"

" _Yes, that would be great!"_ The woman then gave her exact directions to her house. Which was good, because she seemed to live on the outskirts of town, saving Lizzie the risk of getting lost. _"Please hurry, I can't… I can't deal with this another night."_

"I'll be there as quickly as I can," Lizzie assured before ending the call. She then got suited up and got a spare toolbox, just in case, and left to find the woman's home.

With the directions it didn't take too long. The house was secluded on its own, with the nearest neighbors being hidden beyond a group of trees. It was a single level family home with messy flowerbeds leading up to the front door. They looked like they had been kept well at one time but now had weeds growing in them and the bushes under the windows hadn't been trimmed in ages. It would be easy for something to hide out here without being seen, so her seeing it meant it was having to be rather bold.

That was, if she was seeing it. Lizzie couldn't disprove anything yet with how frantic the woman sounded on the phone. She knocked on the door and shortly afterwards a woman in her thirties or forties answered.

"Hello, I'm Liz. We talked on the phone," she introduced. Before she continued the woman opened the door to let her in.

"Thank you for coming so quickly. Come on in," Delilah offered as she stepped aside. Lizzie came into the house and noticed that it still looked mostly put together in contrast to outside. Lack of yardwork aside, the house was being kept up, which she took as a good sign towards legitimacy. Delilah led her into the dining room. "Would you like some coffee? It's fresh."

"No thank you," Lizzie declined and sat down. Delilah refilled a mug for herself and from her jitteriness it was clear she had already drunk a cup or two. "Can you tell me about this doll you've been seeing?"

"Yes. I'm so glad you asked," Delilah said with an exhale of exhaustion. She nearly collapsed in the chair like a ragdoll. "A couple of weeks ago I found it out back. I had been hearing noises but thought they were raccoons trying to get into my garbage, so when I found the doll I didn't put two and two together until later… Every night if starts coming around my house around one-thirty and from that point it just stays until morning… And it keeps trying to get closer."

"How close?"

"…I've never seen it inside, but I've heard and felt it inside. Sometimes, I swear, I'll hear it walking around my bed or tapping on my walls, and just last night it felt like it climbed up on my bed." Before Lizzie could ask any more questions, Delilah took a deep breath and began to vent. "It's ruining my life. I-I lost my job, I can't sleep, I can't focus, and nothing I've done has stopped it. I close the curtains and they open back up, I move to other rooms and it follows me, it always reaches the windows no matter how high!... I can't take it much longer."

"We'll figure something out. I just need a little more information," Lizzie coaxed. "What does this doll look like? Does it look like a bear or rabbit?"

"It looks like a porcelain doll- Hold on, I actually have a picture," Delilah said. She got up and quickly stepped into the other room while the technician furrowed her brows.

"You managed to get a picture of it?" she asked. That was new. That would make things a lot easier. Instead though, Delilah brought back a print-out of a black and white picture.

"No, but I found this picture online. I'm sure this is the doll that's been stalking me," she said and handed it over. "The picture didn't print out in color, but the colors online were the same as the doll outside. It is the exact same doll. Except the one outside's not in that good of condition."

Lizzie looked at the doll and she recognized it right away. To her surprise, she had seen one of these in person. "It's an Ella," she confirmed. She stared at it for a long moment before looking past the paper and to Delilah who sat back down. "And what did you do after you found the doll the first time?"

"Well… I thought it was a normal doll. I brought it inside… That was the first night I woke up in the middle of the night with it outside my window. I don't know how it got out. Ever since then its kept coming back."

"Right," Lizzie said with a nod. She looked at the picture for a long moment before standing from the table. "Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to make a quick call."

"If it's to the police, they won't help," Delilah vented. "I called them when it started and they think it's just a big prank. Told me to work it out with my neighbors and get security lights."

"Just a co-worker who might know more about this. I'll be right back." It wasn't entirely a lie, she just wasn't exactly a co-worker. Lizzie stepped back out the front door and closed it to a crack before dialing Charlie's number. Unfortunately, her phone was off. _"Figures. She's probably in class already…"_ With a sigh, Lizzie left a message, "Hey Charlie, it's me. I need your help with a job so if you could call me back when you're free I'd appreciate it. Talk to you then."

She wished she was talking to her _now_ , but it looked like she would have to wing it alone with little idea what she was up against. She headed back into the kitchen and sat down again. "Would you care if I came back tonight and tried to trap the doll? Considering what you've said, I'd like to try and see it in the act. Unless you don't think it'll come if there's anyone else here."

"Sure, you're welcome to stay. Anything to get rid of this thing," Delilah agreed. With that, a makeshift plan was made, and shortly afterwards Lizzie left the house.

It was around an hour later when Charlie called Lizzie back and by then the technician had returned to Afton Robotics. Since it was her cellphone ringing, she had a good idea who it was, "Charlie?"

"It's me. What happened? Is Michael and Eggs alright?" Charlie asked with light worry. Lizzie scoffed.

"Define 'alright'. They both took the morning off to sit in a no-doubt overcrowded walk-in clinic. If they're alright now, they won't be once they both catch some sort of disease," Lizzie tiredly explained. Then she got straight to business. "No, the job is mine. I have a woman whose being stalked by an Ella doll."

"…An Ella doll? A real one?" Charlie asked in surprise. "I didn't even know those were mass produced…"

"That's right. One that looks just like yours. And speaking of yours, is it still back at your father's house?" Lizzie inquired. "Because at best I would like to study it for ideas on trapping this one, and at worst we'll find out where this one is coming from." Charlie's temporary silence showed that she was disturbed by the comment.

"Can you meet me over there?" she finally asked.

"I could…" Lizzie drew out. "But why take two cars when we can take one?" She could just tell that Charlie was unamused from the silence that followed. "Please?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she finally agreed, slightly amused regardless of how uneasy she sounded. They ended the call and shortly later she came to pick her up.

Charlie's childhood home had been abandoned for years and had fallen into disrepair. The only rooms still in fully functioning condition was the kitchen, bathroom, and Charlie's bedroom, and that was because the young woman visited the house more than once and stayed the night just as many times. Lizzie knew little about the house except that her aunt owned it, and she had been trying to sell it for years to no avail. Something about the foundation being unsteady and requiring work that she wasn't willing to put into it.

Lizzie followed Charlie to her room, set down the toolbox, and scanned the scene with interest. Of course she remembered this bedroom; she spent a few months sleeping in it when she and her brothers had stayed with Henry. It had been like a never-ending sleepover, or that's what her nostalgia addled mind preferred to remember.

"This brings back memories," she said with a sigh. She leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms over her chest, her eyes slowly sliding to the closet doors. "I wonder if my sleeping bag's still here."

"Could be. Aunt Jen cleaned out the master bedroom but she left most of my things, so everything that was here is still here… At least, let's hope so." With that cryptic comment, Charlie cautiously approached the closet and edged it open. Her eyes widened at what she saw inside with a soft, "Oh."

"Oh?" Lizzie asked curiously.

"She's…" Charlie stepped out of the way while holding the closet door open. "She's still here. That means it's another Ella."

Lizzie squinted suspiciously as she came up to the closet, knelt down in front of the doll, and looked it over. It only took her a few seconds to realize that this couldn't be the doll who was harassing Delilah. "You're right. The doll we're looking for would have twigs in its hair and dirt on its dress and shoes. This one looks straight out of the box. Or closet, it's practically the same thing," she said.

"I always just assumed that Ella was one of a kind. Theodore and Stanley- the rabbit and horse over there- were based off existing toys but looked and worked differently. I guess I just thought my dad made them especially for me…" Charlie admitted. She sounded a little disappointed by it. "But beggars can't be choosers. I still had a lot of fun with them."

"She really is pretty. I remember I wanted one just like her," Lizzie admitted. A sour thought added in, _"But that's not what my father made for me…"_ She shrugged the thought off and looked up at Charlie. "Do you mind if we open her up and see what makes her tick?"

"No, that's fine with me. In fact, I'm actually a little curious myself," Charlie agreed. She lifted Ella up, the doll heavier than she imagined, and carried her over to the rug where they could sit more comfortably.

"It's funny, isn't it? We used to sit right here and play with dolls and now all these years later here we are playing with dolls," Lizzie pointed out with a small smile, talking as they took Ella's dress off to find her back panel. "Do you remember that time we wanted to play salon and mangled a bunch of dolls' hair?"

"No…" Charlie got a playful smirk. "But I do remember the time you tried to cut my hair."

"You say that like you weren't the one goading me on. You had that little pouf on top of your head and we thought if we cut it just right you'd somehow grow bangs."

"Technically, it did work. After all the work Mom had to do to fix it, I pretty much had bangs. If just to cover the bald spot," Charlie said. Lizzie gave a light laugh, coaxing one out of the brunette as well.

"You were an adorable kid," Lizzie complimented. She fished a screw driver out of the toolbox and set it to pop open the panel on Ella's back, all while Charlie got a slightly more lopsided smile, embarrassed. "…But not as cute as I was." Somehow, Charlie was still expecting that, but didn't have time to retort before the panel popped off.

Most of Ella's internal mechanisms were old and dusty but still largely intact. What seemed more surprising was how much of the doll was comprised of gear systems instead of the typical endoskeleton and wiring of a normal animatronic. From this alone, its uses seemed very limited.

"Do you remember what this used to do?" Lizzie asked curiously. She couldn't recall them ever turning the doll on during their time there. She had always assumed it was just made to stand there and look pretty.

"There used to be a track from the closet to the foot of my bed and when you wound up the mechanism she would come out. I pulled the tracks up to make more room but they're in the closet if you want to see them. Nothing really special about them. I don't remember her ever talking but with how her arm's posed I wouldn't be surprised if she had the mechanism to lift it to 'drink tea'," Charlie explained. She noticed Lizzie's furrowed brow and looked in as well. "…There's not really much inside of her to make her move."

"Right. So, how is one wandering around this woman's house?' Lizzie asked. "And as much as I'd love to doubt her, I find the coincidences too uncanny to write this off as hysteria."

"And she said it just keeps coming back at the same time every night?" Charlie asked and received a nod. "It's possible it could be a programming malfunction. That she brought it inside and it now identifies her home as some form of a stage where it should go and perform… But that would only apply to a normal animatronic. Something like this-." She gestured into the panel. "-doesn't even have the means to be programmed."

"Which means it is most likely haunted," Lizzie said. She turned over the doll to look at its glassy eyes and sighed. "Why am I the one who always gets stuck with these painted faced gremlin cases…?"

"Because you're the only one that won't fall for it when they start fake crying?" Charlie asked with a slightly joking tone. She grew serious quickly. "You know, Michael's probably already back at the office and he's used to pulling later hours than you. You could always ask him to take the job." She knew Lizzie would decline this offer even though she suggested it.

"I can't. Not now that I met the woman… Besides, trying to ask an already sleep deprived woman to keep a strange man in her house until odd hours of the night? That's just not fair," Lizzie said. "…Usually I'd take something like that straight to the furnace, but considering we have a pristine Ella right here, it might be worth taking a look inside the haunted one beforehand."

Charlie knew what she was getting at. "We could do it here. My father's workshop still has a worktable and you have the tools. That way we wouldn't get stuck moving my Ella back and forth."

"Then it's a plan then. I'll call you after I trap the doll… Expect to be up late. The client said she starts coming around no earlier than one-thirty," Lizzie said with a touch of wariness. Though she couldn't ignore that she planned this for a reason. She was only mildly interested in what was inside the moving doll, but she noticed Charlie's eyes light up at the suggestion. She always was one for curiosity. "I have the strangest feeling this might be a terrible mistake."

"If it is, it's a small one. Nothing we can't throw a pillowcase over," Charlie said.

Lizzie had to agree and looked down at Ella. It definitely didn't look that threatening. At least, when it wasn't moving.

…

Lizzie arrived at Delilah's house no later than midnight. The woman was still awake but looking exhausted, and yet didn't seem to trust herself to sleep already. Though it was possible that she had napped during the day, considering that she was still awake at all.

"Where does it normally appear?" Lizzie asked. She had brought a large, spring loaded cage with her. Something more skin to catching raccoons and she didn't expect it to work. More so it was a backup just in case it did work- if it did, it would be the first time. She had even set their audio lure inside, but being that Ella lacked programming she knew it probably wouldn't work.

Delilah led her to her bedroom and pointed out the window where she kept seeing her. "This isn't the only place she's appeared but this is her favorite spot… Honestly, I could be in any room and she'll find a way to it. Would it be easier if I tried sleeping in the living room?"

"No. We don't want her knowing anything is amiss, just in case she is sentient in some way." Lizzie realized she spoke too fast when Delilah's brows started to raise in slow growing unease. "Chances are, she's not. She's just going to where she knows a human is. In which case, you being in bed may distract her." This was mostly true, save the chance that it wasn't sentient, but the woman didn't need to know that. "You just try to get some rest and no matter what you hear or where you think she is, don't get up. It'll allow me to get closer."

"I guess I can do that… But if she does get in, just… Don't let her get too close to me," Delilah insisted. She shuddered inwardly. "She just keeps getting closer. Dripping everywhere. She's always wet."

"Possibly from crawling through your garden," Lizzie said. She looked up from her watch and noticed Delilah's hesitance. Her face softened as she added, "I've dealt with bigger dolls than this. We'll take care of it."

"Thanks… I guess I'm going to go lay down. Or pretend to lay down." Delilah stiffly headed into her bedroom and changed into her nightclothes before reopening the bedroom door and going to lay down. She settled into bed as Lizzie came in from setting the trap out in the garden and sat down on the couch.

The audio lure was not the only thing Lizzie had set up outside. Another thing, which she had not made Delilah privy to, was a small camera set atop the mailbox and aimed towards the house. It was just small enough that nobody would've been able to notice it if not for the lengthy, thin cord that she had guided back inside. She was forced to sit at the very edge of the couch to keep the Handunit plugged in, but it was worth it to get a better glimpse of what was coming.

Lizzie started to regret her decision to come an hour early almost immediately. Time ticked by slowly and distractions were limited, save the occasional glance to the Handunit feed which would show nothing new. She didn't know how security guards could do it, let alone Michael and Eggs and their stakeouts. Eventually she picked up a novel off a nearby bookshelf and started to skim through it. A tooth rotting romance: part of Lizzie unironically loved it.

There was a clock on the mantle that struck on every hour and every half-hour. When it would ring out it would remind her to check the camera. Every time she saw nothing through the camera and returned to her book. It was only when she realized that it was one-thirty that she decided to put her full attention towards watching the camera. She set the book aside, leaned against the arm of the couch, and watched the feed.

At first there was nothing to see. Just the house sitting in the darkness without any disturbance. Lizzie kept a close eye to look for any sign of motion, but suddenly the feed was obscured by static. She tried to reset the camera through the Handunit with partial success, static still lingering but her now able to see the picture through it.

There was something standing in the middle of the grass.

Lizzie squinted as she tried to look closer. It almost looked like it was the doll, though hard to see it at such a distance through the small camera. It stood in the middle of the yard with its back directly to the camera, the only movement being the jittering of the camera.

" _That's it,"_ the technician realized. _"…But why is it just standing there?"_ Haunted animatronics didn't tend to appreciate being watched and reacted in various ways, but this one's appearance and complete stillness seemed odd. It wasn't until she attempted to zoom in the footage that she realized the camera had completely frozen. What she was seeing wasn't what was happening.

Because Ella was already at Delilah's window. The woman roused from her exhausted sleep only to open her eyes, realize she had turned over in her sleep, and see a form in the window. Delilah shut her eyes tightly and did what she was told, pretending like she hadn't seen anything. What followed was a bang as whatever it was somehow got through the window and landed heavily on the wooden floor with a sickening crack.

Delilah forced herself to breathe as she heard the footsteps pattering across the floor towards her. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the cold chill that settled into the room. It spread across her face, the air becoming damp and heavy, and the deep breaths were becoming harder to sustain.

Just like the night before, she felt the weight of something on the other side of the bed, but this time she wasn't turned away. Her breath hitched as it crawled up to her face, larger than any doll. She could feel its face right in front of hers, her breath reflecting back onto her, and fought to keep her eyes closed. It was just waiting for her to let her guard down and give in. So cold, reeking of something sour and coppery, and inching ever closer.

Until fabric fell across Delilah's face. She couldn't take it; she threw herself back with a cry, eyes flying open, and scrambling away until her back hit the headboard. It was then that she saw what had hit her.

It was the sleeve of Lizzie's jacket, which was now thrown over whatever was beside her on the bed. As the technician bundled it up the woman realized it was much smaller than what she heard and felt crawling into her bed. It was Ella once more, a lifeless doll that hadn't moved once since Lizzie stepped into the bedroom, even while Delilah felt it looming over her.

"Oh thank- Oh- Oh my God." Delilah's relief was quickly exchanged for horror. "It-It actually got in here! It was c _rawling on my bed!_ Has it been getting in this whole time?!"

"I don't know, but I can assure you that it won't be getting in again," Lizzie assured as she wrapped the doll tightly. "Consider this the end of your nighttime visits, Ma'am, because in a few short hours this doll is going to be little more than scrap metal."

"What if it finds a way back?" Delilah asked. Her eyes were wide and she seemed to have barely been comforted by the words. "She always find a way back by one, and now that she's getting in on her own-."

"Ma'am- _Ma'am_ \- there's nothing to worry about. Once I take care of it, it won't be coming back, and I know how to take care of it. I've taken care of things just like this in the past… Just bigger," Lizzie insisted. She then climbed back off the bed, holding the doll tightly against her. Her free hand subtly rested on her taser in case she needed it. "I'm going to secure her in the cage and take her out to my car. I'll call you tomorrow to follow-up. Try to get some sleep…" She glanced towards the lamp before adding. "You may feel better with the lights on."

Delilah silently agreed. With how exhausted she was, she could sleep through anything, including light. In the next few minutes Lizzie moved Ella into the cage and secured it while Delilah watched. The doll didn't move once in the jacket and acted just as lifeless as Charlie's had been. Lizzie wasn't willing to believe it for a second.

The lights were on in Charlie's childhood home, showing that she was already there. Lizzie lugged the cage inside, awkwardly leaning on the door to open it and almost falling through, but managed to make it into the house and to Charlie's room. The living room, kitchen, and hall were all dark with the only lights on being the one in the bathroom and the one in the bedroom. She found Charlie sitting on her bed. Apparently she had been there for a while because she had her boots and jacket off and her laptop opened up. She only noticed the other woman when she made it through the door.

"I've got her," Lizzie announced before nearly throwing the cage to the floor. "Heavy, awkward thing. The cage is a beast too."

"I would've helped you, but I didn't hear you come in. Sorry," Charlie said. She pulled off a pair of headphones and set them aside. "Just distracting myself."

"That is dangerous, you know. The door was unlocked, a stranger could've let themselves in."

"I don't see Michael as much of a threat as long as he hasn't caught whatever Eggs has," Charlie retorted with a playful smile. She set her laptop aside. "Let's take a look at her."

Charlie helped Lizzie carry the doll down to her father's workshop. Thankfully the lightbulbs hadn't burned out over the years and the worktable was cleaned off and ready to be used. There they took the doll out of the cage and unwrapped the jacket from around it.

Only then did they get a good look at the doll's state. One of its eyelids drooped lazily and the glass eye underneath was cracked, like it had been dropped at some point. Mud was caked around its feet and stains littered the skirt of her dress. She was sopping wet just as Delilah had warned them, more than she could've been from wandering through the grass.

They removed her dress and turned her over to see her back panel, then popped it open to see what waited inside. It was a gruesome sight for any machine. Rust had began to spread on the gears and water had pooled inside of the porcelain body and leaked out slowly onto the floor. From the state of the metal, it was almost unbelievable that the doll could've been moving by itself.

Then again, Lizzie had yet to see the doll move at all. It just seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"It looks like someone dredged it out of the bottom of a lake," Lizzie said. "Maybe they did, and maybe now it's searching for whoever abandoned it."

"That would make sense, but why the woman? She never said she owned an Ella before, did she?"

"No, and I don't have any reason to believe she would lie. She could've lied, but what's the point?... She didn't say if she recently moved into the house. Maybe her owner lived in there before her."

"That would make sense too," Charlie agreed. She then peered into the doll before pointing something out. "See this box up here? I think this is a built-in alarm clock. I did some research earlier and found out that the Ella model had a few extra features built in, one of which was an alarm clock. You said she was visiting the house at the same time every night? Maybe it's because of that."

"That would make just as much sense as anything else," Lizzie agreed. Though she then scrunched up her face at a sour smell and raised her hands only to realize it was from the water coming out of the doll. "Ugh. Make sure to wash your hands. Whatever that is, it isn't just lake water," Lizzie warned. Though by now she realized it was all over her clothes. "Your shower works, right?" Charlie raised a brow. "I'm aware of exactly what time it is and where we are. Let me just have this before we have to drive her over to ARI."

"The hot knob gets stuck sometimes. Just lift it up when you turn. There's a little shampoo and conditioner in the cabinet if you want to do your hair," Charlie offered with a smile. She turned back to the doll, closed up its back, and put its dress back on. She knew that she didn't need to but felt it was only right. "I'll keep an eye on her but I'm going to move back to my room if that's alright with you."

"Your bedroom? With all of your things? Nooo. Stay in the dark, cold workshop with the cobwebs and the smelly doll," Lizzie said sarcastically. She hoisted up the cage onto its side to point the door upwards. "But put her back in here. I don't want her wandering off and getting outside."

Charlie agreed and started to pick the doll up. Lizzie opened the cage and noticed the audio lure still hooked to the back. She frowned at it, uneased that Ella had completely ignored it, and took it out. Whatever was controlling this doll wasn't programming.

"…If she starts to act strangely then come and tell me. She's not doing anything right now, but there must have been a reason the client was so fearful. Be on guard," Lizzie said more strictly.

"I will. Just don't take too long."

Lizzie accompanied Charlie as she carried the doll back to her room and then went to go freshen up. Regardless of the warnings, Charlie wasn't afraid of being alone with the doll. Especially not when it was bound in a cage. Part of her wanted to pull it out, open it back up, and make a direct comparison with her doll, but it wasn't worth the risk. Not unless she was able to convince Lizzie to join in once she got out of the shower.

Charlie brought her Ella out of the closet and took another look inside of her. As she expected, it did not have the alarm clock inside. Either this one was a prototype or her father had just not seen the use in giving a little girl a doll that worked like an appliance. Unfortunately it wasn't like she could ask him now. It was a depressing thought that she erased by turning her attention to Theodore and Stanley.

She had just managed to open Theodore, being as cautious as she could to not risk breaking him, when she heard Lizzie coming down the hall and up to the door of her room. Charlie briefly acknowledged her but was fixated on piecing through the rabbit. She could still see the cage from her position on the bed and could see that the doll hadn't moved at all.

"Hey. How was the shower? Did you get enough hot water?" Charlie asked. The downsides of showering in an old house being that the water heater didn't work like it used to, but she supposed she was fortunate that it worked at all. Lizzie didn't say anything and Charlie expected she was pouting as she walked to the bed, getting an amused smile. "You knew what you were getting into."

Lizzie sat down on the bed behind her and after a moment laid the tips of her fingers on Charlie's shoulders. Charlie paused and started to turn her head in confusion. "Liz?" She was answered by a curtain of wet hair falling over her face. She sputtered, closed her eyes, trying to brush the hair aside. "Hey! I've got open electronics in my lap!" she scolded with amusement on her voice. The fingers slid down to grab her shoulders.

Lizzie's hands weren't that small. Or that _cold_.

Charlie sprung off the bed, letting Theodore fall to the floor, and spun around to see that nobody was there. It wasn't Lizzie, it couldn't have possibly been her.

She knew it had to be the doll. Not the doll physically- she sent a side glance over to see that it was still in the cage- but whatever was haunting the doll. She had no doubt about it and without a hitch she hurried out of the room, down the dark hallway, and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Lizzie, are you in there?" Charlie called worriedly.

"Of course I am. Where else would I be?" the technician called back. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can I come in? It's important," she said. There was a questioning pause before she heard the sound of the curtain sliding closed.

"Alright, come on in."

Charlie didn't need to be told twice. She stepped into the warm bathroom and closed the door behind her. She could hear splashing without the shower running and sent a befuddled look at the closed curtain.

"Are you taking a bath?" she asked in disbelief. "…You know nobody's washed that tub in years."

"I know and I don't care. It's wonderful," Lizzie said simply. She sunk back into the water and asked simply, "What did it do?" She already knew from the panicked tone that it was about the doll and Charlie failed to disappoint in that regard.

"It felt like someone grabbed me. It put its hands on my shoulders and its hair over my face… Did the client say anything about seeing or feeling a person touching her? It wasn't the doll- I mean, obviously it was the doll, but whatever touched me… Felt human. I've never had something like that happen before." Charlie leaned on the counter and tried to shake off the feeling of unease. She had faced haunted animatronics before but nothing had felt that powerful. She took a deep breath to still her nerves. "We need to get rid of it."

"Fine by me. Just let me dry off and get dressed," Lizzie said with little questioning. She didn't like the sound of it being able to touch someone, especially not Charlie. It had to go in the furnace.

"Sure… I'll go get the cage." Charlie opened the door and stepped out.

"Can't you just-?" Charlie was already out the door before Lizzie could finish the suggestion. She sighed and slid further into the warm water, trying to sap a few last seconds of comfort before her was back on the clock. Or what comfort she could get from a bubble-less bath in a tub that didn't feel clean. She didn't know why she expected any different.

She was unsurprised when she heard the footsteps running back down the hall towards the bathroom. _"The doll got out_ ," she guessed with a huff. At least it couldn't have gone far, and as the bathroom door was flung open she called through the curtain, "What did it-?"

She was cut off by the lights suddenly shutting off and the door slamming shut once again.

"…Charlie?!" Lizzie knew that wasn't Charlie. Not when silence answered. She inhaled sharply before quickly standing up in the tub and reaching out past the curtain for a towel.

Just as she grabbed it, the bathtub faucet began to drip. Then began to flow. By time she had the towel wrapped around her icy water was spreading through the bathtub, reeking with that same soured smell. It had the same odor as those old animatronic suits that had been left to rot. Decay, stagnation, flesh- that was it. It was definitely the smell of decaying flesh.

She stepped out of the cold water and slipped on the tile, barely catching herself on the wall. The entire room was growing colder as she reached blindly for the counter until it culminated in a splash from the bathtub behind her. Something came out of the water and she could hear it following right behind. She threw herself forwards and her hand landed on the light switch right as she felt something grab the edge of her town. In a second the bathroom was flooded with light.

But when she spun around, falling against the sink in the process, she saw that there was nothing there. Everything in the bathroom looked completely normal, save that the bathwater was now a filthy, frothy brown color that it wasn't when the lights had gone out.

Lizzie shuddered and pulled the towel tighter around her. They had to get rid of that doll fast.

But this would be easier said than done because Charlie, oblivious to Lizzie's ordeal, entered her bedroom to find that the cage was empty. Its door hadn't even been opened and yet the doll was gone.

" _How?"_ Charlie pondered for only a second before searching the room. She looked under the bed, checked the closets, behind the doors, behind or underneath anything, and found no sign of it. She hurried out into the hallway and began to search the other rooms, desperate to find the doll before it got out.

The house was dark. Most of the lights were out, many of them hadn't been replaced, and there wasn't much furniture for it to be hiding behind. She still pressed on, frantically searching everywhere.

Until she stepped on something wet.

Charlie looked down at the soaking wet rug underneath her foot. It was a very familiar rug, one hiding a very uncomfortable secret underneath, and there was no reason it should've been wet. It was nowhere near the kitchen or bathroom and there wasn't anything that could've leaked onto it. Unless it had been the doll, unless the doll had stood on this rug until all the water finished leaking out of it.

The young woman stepped back from the rug and prepared to keep looking, but something kept her rooted to that spot, staring down at that rug. She was almost drawn to it. As much as she hated it, she crouched down alongside the waterlogged thing and slowly pulled it aside. Slowly a faded coppery stain was revealed underneath. A stain that no amount of cleaning had washed away, old blood.

Except something was different. It didn't look different, though Charlie tried to avoid looking at _his_ blood, but she felt transfixed as she shuffled closer and stared down at it. Hunched over looking at the stain.

A sharp pain shot through her temple. It was so intense that she reflexively grabbed her head and barely resisted hissing through her teeth. It wasn't like a normal headache, it was sharp and hot, spreading out across her head and pulsing. It got so intense that the sensations changed and underneath the searing pain there was something else. A cold sensation, trickling, like water. Something was trickling down from her scalp and across her cheek, and though she couldn't see it she swore she could hear it dripping on the stain.

 _Drip, drip, drip._ It smelled like metal and murky water. Like the runoff from a road or water found stagnating in a ditch.

And just as quickly as it began, the pain was suddenly gone. The heat disappeared so quickly that it left an unsettling chill in its wake. She didn't have time to question it before she heard Lizzie's footsteps coming.

"You will not believe what I had to go through just to get out of the tub… What are you doing on the floor?" Lizzie asked in confusion. She furrowed her brows and stepped around, seeing what the other woman was looking at and raising her brows in surprise. Charlie quickly pulled the wet rug back over the stain.

"It's nothing," she said. She didn't even attempt to make an excuse.

Lizzie silently frowned and looked past her. Her green eyes fell onto something in the next room and slowly widened, mouth slightly dropping open. "…How long has the front door been open?"

Charlie's eyes widened and turned her head quickly only to see that Lizzie was right, the front door was halfway open when it had been closed tightly only minutes before. Her reaction answered for her and Lizzie wasted no time in hustling over.

"That thing's probably halfway back to Delilah's by now! We have to go get it before we lose it for good!" she said as she leaned out the door and looked around. There was no sign of it on the street and she groaned loudly, clasping a hand over her face. "I should've taken care of that gaudy, little thing the moment it started screwing up the camera."

"Hold on, wait. Let me get my shoes and I'll come with you," Charlie rushed out as she ran into the other room.

Lizzie didn't even move from her spot at the door, staring tiredly out at the dark street and frowning pointedly. Michael could never know about this or he would have plenty to say, and Eggs would just laugh at her expense. Letting a doll no bigger than a toddler escape and wreak havoc on the town was entirely preventable, and she didn't stop kicking herself until Charlie returned. "Okay, let's go."

"I blame you for this," Lizzie flatly said.

"That's fair," Charlie nonchalantly agreed. They got in the van and began to race down the street back in the direction of Delilah's house. They didn't get far.

It almost looked like a small child slowly walking down the side of the road and it wasn't until the van pulled up close that they realized they caught up with Ella. Her body was unmoving, save her small wheels that pushed her along the concrete back towards the house she had originally been taken from.

She was moving so slow that they pulled the van over, climbed out, and were able to walk up right behind her without much effort. Lizzie went first, with a taser in one hand and a flashlight in the other, and insistently kept Charlie behind her as she inched up on the doll.

Just when they got within a few feet, the doll suddenly came to a halt. They stopped as well before Lizzie passed the flashlight off to Charlie and took a careful step closer. The moment she did the doll twitched, and she stopped on the spot as it began to slowly turn its head all the way around to face its followers.

It stared at them with its large, unfocused, glassy eyes. Its gaze cold and lifeless. It blinked its heavy lashes once, turned its head back around, and then continued down the road.

"…How charming," Lizzie muttered. She would've continued following when Charlie spoke up.

"I think it wants us to follow it," she said. The other woman sent her a skeptical look. "It wasn't moving this slowly in the house, and the way it looked at us… I think it's beckoning us. It wants to lead us somewhere."

"And what if that somewhere is just Delilah's house?" Lizzie asked doubtfully.

"There's a chance of that, but then maybe we'll figure out why it keeps going back," Charlie suggested.

Lizzie reluctantly knew that she was right, that if she just snatched up the doll and drove it back to ARI that either it would put up a fight or that it would simply not work in banishing it. She couldn't risk an unhappy spirit attaching itself to her and sitting in on her baths from now on. She sighed and nodded, put her taser away, and headed back to the van. Charlie looked back at Ella one last time before following.

They followed in the van at a crawl as the small doll continued to wheel itself down the street. It got to the point where Lizzie would stop and wait until it got some distance away before pulling up after it. Time dragged on as they continued to watch it creep along in the darkness. It was at least a relief that it chose the quieter streets.

Ella led them right back to Delilah's home. They slowly grew more near and Lizzie was about to get out and snatch the doll when she saw the house again. The lights were still on- Delilah was probably sleeping with the lights on if she was asleep at all- and this doll was about to wheel right back up like it had a one-track mind. She watched it inch closer to the lone home.

Except then it didn't stop at the house. Ella continued past the home and onwards down the street, which looked like it didn't go much of anywhere. Lizzie furrowed her brows and sent a glance towards Charlie, who was watching the doll with equal confusion and curiosity. They continued to drive after it and slowly inched further out of town.

Until suddenly Ella took a sharp turn off the road and disappeared into the grass beside it. As soon as she did, Lizzie stopped the van and Charlie quickly got out and ran after the doll, even as the other woman called.

"Charlie, wait! You don't know what's out there!" Lizzie warned. Her words fell on deaf ears as the young woman descended the slope and into the grass. The technician followed right behind.

Charlie caught sight of movement in the darkness and shined the flashlight further in to see Ella's blue dress disappearing into a drainage pipe at the bottom of the ditch. She crouched down beside it and looked through. Sure enough, there was Ella wheeling itself through water that went up to its waist, moving so easily that it looked to be floating.

"Guess we know where all the water came from," Charlie said. She straightened up to try and look past the pipe but was unable to see to the other side. That was when Lizzie caught up, and she turned to her and asked, "Can you climb up and see where it lets out?" Lizzie nodded and climbed the other side of the slope and pushed through some brambles.

On the other side Lizzie found more than just the other end of the pipe. An old construction site sat in the middle of a cleared-out space seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Lizzie did know about this site but only through casual conversation. A few years ago whatever project that was going to be built here was abandoned, but within the last few weeks construction had restarted. The mound of new supplies to the far west of the building backed this up.

The drainage pipe looked like it had been disturbed accidentally. It jutted out two feet from a raw cliffside and the end of the plastic was broken and frayed and stuck out into another ditch of water. Lizzie watched it from her vantage point and after a few moments Ella rolled out. Her small wheels fought through the mud as it rolled up the ditch slope and towards the construction site.

"She's over here!" Lizzie called back. She carefully shuffled down the shallow cliff, stumbling slightly, and followed the doll at a distance. It was heading straight for the unfinished building. Before she could reach it, Charlie caught up with them and they both watched as Ella made its way past the outer walls.

The doll continued along before stopping at a half-buried vent opening. Rebar and cement was piled up beside it and from the dented in metal might've been on top once. Ella teetered alongside it before falling forward into the vent. It was then dragged inside by an unseen force. The vent opening stared ominously back at the two women just as Ella had on the street.

"This has got to be a trap. I'm not sure how it concocted one this elaborate, but this definitely is one. Get us in the vent, drag us into the darkness, and most likely drown us with that fetid water," Lizzie laid out. She had no intention of following and was instead trying to think of how to get the doll back out, and again kicking herself for letting it get away from her. So when Charlie started to crouch down and look into the vent like she was preparing to follow, the technician was horrified. "You're- You're not really considering it, are you? This _is_ a trap."

Charlie knew climbing into this vent could be the biggest mistake she made that night, but something was drawing her in. She just kept thinking about that pain and fear when she was staring at that bloodstain in her house. There was something more to this then just a simple trap; she had to figure out what.

"…Do you ever get the feeling that there's something there and you have to find it?" Charlie asked. "Not the doll, I mean. Like you feel that there's something you need to know but it's just outside your reach?"

"You mean your door dreams?" Lizzie asked flatly. Charlie sent her an unenthused look. "I'm not sure what's on the other side of this vent, but I can tell you now that it isn't a door."

"I'm talking about Ella. I still think she's trying to lead us somewhere…" Charlie reached into the vent. The air was definitely colder than outside and smelled damp. "We have to get her back anyways. I'll go in first."

Lizzie watched in horror as Charlie ducked into the vent and grabbed for her jacket. "We're in a construction site. There's lose wires and metal bars sticking out everywhere, we could get injured or stung by scorpions. Bit by snakes- if we're not already bit by the doll trying to wrestle it back out," she tried to rationalize. "I understand, Charlie. I don't want to let it go either… Not because I want answers, but because I know by tomorrow evening it will be back at the client's and I'll have to catch her all over again. But we can't get ourselves killed following her."

"…I know you're right. Everything you're saying is one hundred percent right," Charlie quietly agreed.

"But?"

"…But I need to find out where she's going. Just take it as a hunch, but this is more than just a haunted toy."

Lizzie frowned as she watched Charlie crawl into the vent's tight squeeze. Then, with a very reluctant sigh, she attached her taser to her belt and followed her inside. "If we're lucky, we'll live to regret this."

The vent moved at a downward angle further under the unfinished building. Charlie soon realized that the vent was becoming tighter, and shining her light ahead revealed a portion of the vent was bowed in.

"There's going to be a tight squeeze up here," she warned as she twisted in the vent to get off her jacket. She pushed it and the flashlight through first before rolling onto her back and sliding through the tight space. It was a struggle but she just managed to make it through unscathed.

Lizzie already felt claustrophobic even before it was her turn. She had a bad feeling she wouldn't make it through, what with her jumpsuit and bulky belt, but she still tried. If only because Charlie was already starting to move on. Lizzie tried to pull herself through underneath the dent and at first it seemed like she would make it, but the further she clawed through the tighter it got. Eventually she was down to a literal crawl and it was at that moment that something- a loose thread, the zipper track, s _omething_ \- caught on a rough edge on the bottom of the vent.

All forward progress stopped and Lizzie was trapped where she was.

"Wait up, I'm stuck!" she called out.

Charlie stopped immediately and tried to look back at her, eventually turning herself enough to see the trapped technician. She was instantly concerned. "Can you move at all?"

"No! I'm caught up on the vent, I can't go forward or back!"

"Okay…" This was suddenly a much more dangerous situation. Charlie slid herself back towards the other woman. "Don't panic. We'll figure out a way to get you out. Here, grab onto my boot and I'll pull."

Lizzie grabbed on with both hands and Charlie tried to pull her free, to no avail. Trying to push back didn't work either. The vent gripped her in a tight hold, one she couldn't climb out of. She wasn't the claustrophobic type, being used to climbing into small vents for repairs, but she could feel anxiety rising up. She couldn't afford to get trapped down here in a dangerous construction site, not when the vent was bent against her spine.

"This isn't working… Will you be okay if I move ahead and try to find a place wide enough to turn around? I can leave the flashlight with you," Charlie offered. Lizzie covered her nervousness out of habit.

"I'll be fine. If I can reach my keys I have a little flashlight to take the edge off. Just… Go on ahead and turn around, and then we'll figure out what I'm hooked on."

The brunette nodded before turning back ahead and beginning to hastily crawl through the tight vent. Before her light could become almost entirely obscured, Lizzie managed to unhook the flashlight from her keychain and click it on. It was weak and had to be held down constantly to keep it on, meaning that within seconds her thumb was starting to grow tired. As though it couldn't get any worse.

When much to her surprise, just when Charlie had grown inexplicably faint, she could hear the sounds of her returning through the vent. Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief; that had gone much quicker than she thought.

"I take it the vent doesn't go much further? Good. Maybe then we can get a rescue crew down here to cut me out with the jaws of life," she remarked. Charlie was silent, save the shuffling in the vent and the pattering of her palms slapping on the floor of the vent. The silence and the darkness made Lizzie especially paranoid and she tried to lift herself up. "…Charlie, say something."

When Charlie didn't Lizzie knew it wasn't her. Not with wet palms patting on the metal like they were. She stared through the dark in horror and kept a vice grip on her light and aimed it forwards.

" _It was a trap. This whole thing was. It lured us down here to trap us inside,"_ she thought in dread.

At the furthest reaches of the light she swore she saw something pale. Then the flashlight suddenly went out. Lizzie gasped and kept trying to press the button to no avail. Now suffocated in darkness she could hear the body crawling closer to her.

In a last act of desperation, she called out, "Charlie! I need the light!" But even though she couldn't have been far, Charlie couldn't hear her.

The dampness and the odor were suffocating and the only sound other than Lizzie's breathing was a soft dripping. Tap, tap, _tap_. Moving closer until it started dripping onto her hand holding the flashlight. She recoiled only to have another- cold and small- land upon it. She gave a cry of shock as she tried to yank out of the hand's grasp, but there was nowhere she could go. She was trapped with it.

The small hand held hers down like a vice. She could feel its wrist twisting and popping in unnatural angles as it dug its fingers into hers to pry the flashlight out. It then replaced the empty spot with its hand, gaunt fingers lacing in between her own and squeezing into her flesh. She tried to pull her arm aside but it followed, wrists swiveling around bonelessly. The second hand pried into her other one and lifted them together, palm to palm, shriveled skin to pinkened flesh. Drip, drip, drip, _wheeze._

Then they shoved and Lizzie was shoved harshly back a few feet. The small hands ripped from hers and the vents scraped at her side, the dent painfully striking the back of her head, and dumping her unceremoniously onto the cold metal. Lizzie could still see nothing but heard a groan from above and barely shielded herself before the dented vent caved in on itself. An entire section of unfinished wall caved in on it and collapsed the section of vent entirely.

"Char-!" Lizzie was cut off by a cloud of dust filling her mouth. She coughed and covered her mouth before yelling again. "Charlie!"

The entire time this had been going on, Charlie had managed to find the end of the shaft further down. It was half blocked by a slab of old concrete but she could see what looked like a room beyond it. She was in the process of trying to either push it aside or fit through when she heard the loud banging from behind- though none of Lizzie's calls beforehand.

"Liz?!" she called out. She didn't waste a second before she started climbing back through the vent, around a bend, and onwards until she could see where the vent had collapsed. She saw Lizzie's keychain flashlight sitting in the vent and feared the worst. " _Elizabeth_!"

"Charlie?!" Lizzie's muffled voice finally made it through the rubble. "Get back! More of the vent might cave in!"

"Are you okay?!" Charlie called back.

" _D_ _o I sound okay?!_ This whole structure is completely unsound! You _have to get out!_ "

But this was easier said than done. Charlie's only guaranteed means of escape was blocked, meaning she would have to try and get through the other exit. "There's a basement at the end of the vent, or something that looks like it. I'm going to try and climb out through there. Are you still stuck?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just fine," Lizzie assured, finally beginning to calm down. "I'm going to climb out and find the stairs. Just keep moving and get into the basement. I'll find my way inside." With that, she began to hastily climb backwards as Charlie crawled the other way back towards the basement. As dry and powdery as the air felt between her teeth, Lizzie noticed that the damp smell still lingered. Like it had never left.

Charlie made it back to the other exit and realizing that she couldn't move the slab she became determined to squeeze herself through. She sat down her flashlight and jacket before placing one hand on the concrete, one on the vent edge, and beginning to wedge herself through. It was so tight that she had to hold her breath and when she paused her lungs were still caged in. She took small breaths, braced herself, and pushed again as she slowly inched through the tight space.

Eventually her torso was out and she readjusted her grip on the vent. Her fingers brushed a sharp edge only to find a piece of hair caught against it. She pulled it free and lowered it to the flashlight. It was one of Ella's curls, more evidence to suggest that she had been coming down her frequently. Charlie didn't get to dwell on it long when she heard footsteps from above Lizzie walking nearby. She focused on pulling herself the rest of the way through.

The 'room' was much more a crawlspace than anything else. Or it was now that it was filled with collapsed rubble. It looked as though they built a basement, the floor collapsed, and then they built another floor above to bury the basement entirely. This was confirmed when she spotted what looked like the bottom steps of cement stairs that then disappeared under a tangle of metal wiring, crumbled cement, and wood. It looked like she wasn't going up that way.

She had to warn Lizzie, so she cupped her mouth and called to the ceiling. "Liz! Can you hear me?"

Above, Lizzie heard her voice and noticed it came more clearly from under some fresh wooden boards. They hadn't even been nailed down and were just laid across some broken cement where two sections of floor met. She moved the boards aside to reveal an open hole in the floor leading into the basement.

"I hear you loud and clear," she called back down. Charlie heard the boards being moved and crossed over some of the rubble to get underneath the hole and looked up to see the other woman's face. "Do you see a way out? Anything other than this?"

"I'm afraid not. It looks like the stairs are blocked off, but I might be able to climb up." Charlie shined the flashlight over the wall beside her and the rubble beside it and was already less confident in the idea. "…You still have ropes in the van, right? Or not rope, bungie cords?" She looked up to see that Lizzie was staring blankly down. "…You don't, do you?"

"Is that blood?" Charlie blinked at the question, taken aback by it. She reflexively looked down at herself and saw no sign of said blood, but then noticed the cement beneath her, illuminated by her lowered flashlight. The section of concrete had a small brown patch on it that could've been taken for dirt if not how it stained. It still looked old enough to lose its red color but there was no doubt that it was old blood.

Suddenly Charlie realized that the room was very cold and the air was thick with dampness and a familiar stagnant smell. Dread crawled up her spine as she realized something was down here.

"It is…Don't go, okay? I'm going to look around," Charlie said. She then began to slowly turn and scan her flashlight over the small room. There wasn't far to go with how much was caved in. Whatever was down here had to be close by. Lizzie nodded and tried to watch as the other woman stepped into the darkness.

The light struggled to reach around the broken concrete. Shadows cast across the walls and danced almost mockingly. Charlie felt unsafe but driven to continue looking around, cautiously stepping over debris.

And right beside the stairs- at an angle that she couldn't see when came in- Charlie found Ella standing there staring at her. The flat section of concrete had sunken in slightly from the foundation shifting in the past and a shallow puddle of water had accumulated beside the back wall. In that puddle Charlie saw a second form and she shined her light upon it.

It was the body of a child. It laid on its side towards her, its head resting on a colorful backpack, a toy flashlight sitting in the water beside it. As though she had just laid down to take a nap, never to wake again.

Charlie was devastated. She could barely breathe as she carefully made her way over to the small form. It was hard for her to date the body from one look alone, she could only guess that it had been a few months at least but not long enough to mummify. Not wanting to disturb the body, Charlie knelt beside her and tried to get a closer look.

One thing she could make out, but only vaguely, was what looked like an injury on its head. It was impossible to tell if the girl had been bleeding with the water and decomposition, but that wound had been prominent enough that she could still see it. Her clothes were still recognizable; a yellow sweater stained through, a plastic pink bracelet falling off her emaciated wrist, pink and purple Velcro shoes.

Blood by the hole in the roof, visible injury, body pulled into sleeping position- it looked like she had fallen in and hit her head. Then, unable to get back out, she had gotten tired and laid down. She couldn't have had any idea that if she went to sleep that she wouldn't wake back up.

"I'm so sorry…" Charlie said quietly. She felt like she had to apologize seeing this small body forgotten down here. She reached for her, hand hesitating over her head and prepared to touch her, but at the last moment she retracted it. The body couldn't be disturbed; there was no way to comfort her now anyways. "I can't imagine what you went through…"

"Who are you talking to?" Lizzie asked with suspicion. It only became more apparent when she added, "You're not talking to Ella like that, are you?" Charlie took a shaky breath and called back to her.

"Y-You're going to have to call the police… I found a body."

"… _What_?" Lizzie exclaimed. "You found a body? Right down there, right now?"

"Yeah... She's a little girl. It looks like she's been down here a while."

"Not again. Oh my God." Lizzie clasped a hand over her face as her heartbeat sped up. A child, a dead child, they had found a dead child, and there was nothing she could do. It was too late. She tried to keep herself under control- she didn't want to s _ee her_ \- and got her phone out. "Right. Yes, I'll… I'll call the cops…"

"Do you have Clay's number? You might want to call him… He'll believe us when we tell him why we're out here," Charlie suggested. Lizzie groaned at the thought, knowing the man she was talking about very well, but reluctantly went ahead and called him. Unfortunately she knew his number off the top of her head and began to dial it.

Meanwhile, Charlie watched the body for a moment longer before turning away. She looked towards the stairs, for another way out, at anything other than the girl. Eventually her eyes landed back on Ella. The doll hadn't moved since she came over and didn't turn to face her. She slowly reached out for it and pulled it to her by the dress, then wrapped her arms protectively around it. It was still so cold and wet in her grasp.

But something was different this time. This time the doll felt limp and there was no uneasy sensation from touch it. Almost as though it was empty. If whatever guided her here had ever been inside at all. She held it close just in case.

Exhaustion was an understatement. Neither of them were unused to long night, but tonight had been especially trying. Even just sitting there waiting was tiring. They stayed out of the way, sitting on the stacked wood outside the construction site, as the police scoured the scene. It had been a struggle for the retrieval crew to get down into the basement but they had finally gotten to her.

Charlie watched the coroner drive past and felt a sour feeling in her stomach. She wished that she could do more, but she knew it was all out of her hands. She looked over at Lizzie to ask her what she thought only to decide not to when she saw her state. Lizzie had her head in her hands and was hunched over silently and unmoving. That pure look of defeat was enough to keep Charlie's questions to herself.

It was then that Clay Burke approached them. Normally a chief of police wouldn't come out to a call like this, but Clay had intimate knowledge on matters such as these. Not only did he know Charlie well- he was the father of one of her close friends- but he had investigated cases involving Freddy's in the past. That included calls about "malfunctioning" animatronics. That also included past investigations of William Afton. Lizzie knew him well, though the aloofness between them was evident. She didn't even look up when he walked up to them.

"We're going to be down here for a while. You two should head home and get some sleep. Do you need a ride?" Clay offered.

"The van's not parked too far. We can walk," Charlie said with a thankful smile. "…How long do you think it's going to be before they identify her?" Clay got a much more somber look.

"The medical examiner will be able to verify her identity, but we know who she is. Her name is Lindsey Sherman and she went missing back in March. Her parents had thought she tried to ran away but after she didn't come home we began investigating it as an abduction… From the contents of her bag it looks like her parents were right." He shook his head regretfully. "And from the supplies in her bag, we can tell that this didn't happen long after she went missing. Maybe the same day."

It was a painfully tragic thought. Charlie took a deep breath and asked, "And the doll?"

"The parents didn't mention the doll when they reported her missing, though it's not unheard of for children to take their toys when they run away."

"That's not what she means," Lizzie said without any energy. Clay looked to her questioningly and she drug her head up with a weary and exasperated look. "She means: where is the doll? Because you need to keep it with her," she said firmly. She knew that Charlie had told him, even if the other officers weren't privy to it. "Elsewise, we will both be getting more calls tonight."

"I'll see what I can do. For now her belongings are with her, including the doll, but if her parents come and claim them there's not much we can do," Clay explained.

While this didn't exactly quell her fears, Lizzie felt better about the girl's parents having the doll than it being left to roam. Maybe if it was still possessed it would be more comfortable with them, and if it wasn't they would surely put two and two together. She dropped her head again and Clay looked towards Charlie, noticing the distressed look on her face.

"I doubt this is much comfort, Charlie, but from the look of the scene she wasn't down there long," Clay offered. Charlie understood and nodded, Lizzie was still a step or two behind and huffed.

"What do you mean? You said she went missing in March-… Oh… Right, I see what you mean." Exasperation fizzled out to emptiness and Lizzie cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I'll make sure Charlie gets home."

"Thank you. Take care of those brothers of yours," Clay finished. Nothing more than a neutral comment and yet Lizzie still wanted to leave as fast as possible. She waited until Clay walked off before she stood.

"Let's go," she said before swiftly walking back towards the way they came. Charlie followed along without another word. They stayed silent, even when trampling and tripping through the woods, and found their way to the van. If they had thought driving away from the construction site would make it any easier they were sorely mistaken.

They were halfway back towards Charlie's home when she broke the silence. "I think I'm just going to spend the night at the house. I don't want to move my stuff back to the dorm this late," she said. Lizzie pursed her lips thoughtfully but didn't say anything. Charlie noticed it and added, "It should be fine. Don't feel obligated to stay, I know you're tired."

"Charlie, look in the back," Lizzie said.

Charlie furrowed her brow before looking into the van. She caught sight of the rolled up sleeping bag and gave a short, honest laugh. "I guess that answers my question."

This actually got a smile out of Lizzie. "Always come prepared for the worst, and I don't imagine anything worse than trying to sleep on your floor. When's the last time anyone's ran a broom over it?"

"When was the last time you tried cutting my hair?" Charlie retorted. Lizzie lightly scoffed at the comment but was still clearly amused.

"Don't tempt me, Charlie. I still think you would look good with bangs and I always have spare scissors in the car," she jokingly threatened. The other wasn't threatened in the slightest, and the rest of the short ride felt easier. Though pulling up in front of Henry's old house always somehow managed to kill the mood. Lizzie turned off the van and sunk back into the driver's seat with a sigh. After a moment she looked over at Charlie and asked, "Are you going to be okay? I know you're not used to these sorts of things…"

" _You're not either…"_ But she didn't say that. Instead, she just steadied herself and tried to gather her thoughts. "I think so," Charlie said. After a moment of consideration she added, "And I'm glad she's finally going home… Even if we had to be the ones to find her."

"I suppose I am too," Lizzie said. From her quietness it was clear that there was something she too left unsaid, but she waved it away as she reached into the back for her sleeping bag. "And I'm more than happy to put an end to this night. Even if it means waking up at the crack of dawn on your bedroom floor, covered in cobwebs and dust, and _still_ smelling like whatever was in that vent."

"You could risk the bathtub again. Maybe take an actual shower this time," Charlie offered, getting out of the van. Lizzie leered at her with an unenthused look as she shut her door.

"I'd rather risk rolling around in that muddy ditch, thank you," she answered. It got that smile back so it was worth it, even though she was looking at a rather uncomfortable night. But she could and would live with it, and she caught up to Charlie before putting an arm around her reassuringly, just hoping that she had been honest and that she would be alright.

And if not, Lizzie would be there. That's what she was here for.

* * *

Lizzie didn't get back to Afton Robotics until late the next morning and it was a miracle she had dragged herself in at all. Sleeping bag or not, it had been one of the worst night's sleep she had in ages. It didn't help that Charlie had to leave uncomfortably early for her classes, meaning that Lizzie either had to get up on her feet before she was ready or stay in Henry's house alone. She didn't have to weigh the options.

She collapsed at the desk tiredly and took a moment to breathe. She could hear moving around in the back so she knew Michael was here, but she didn't rush back to tell him about the night before. Eventually he would make his way to the front and she would have to recap. She stayed especially quiet to get a few more minutes to herself.

Then she picked up the phone and dialed Delilah's phone number. Lizzie slumped tiredly against the desk, propping herself up with one arm, and waited for the woman to answer.

" _Hello?"_

"Hello, Delilah. This is Liz with Afton Robotics calling to check-up after last night."

" _Oh! Hi!"_ Delilah's voice sounded surprisingly chipper. It was unlikely that one night of good sleep counteracted the last two weeks but she sounded a lot better than she had the day before. _"I'm doing so much better. It's amazing how much better I feel just knowing that she's not out there watching me. I didn't feel her eyes on me at all, and there wasn't any tapping or footsteps. It was just quiet."_

"That's good, that's good." Lizzie envied her momentarily. "The doll's been taken care of. You won't be seeing it outside your house anymore."

" _Thank you so much! I'm just… So glad this is all over with. Did you find out why it was doing it? Was there a reason it kept coming back to my house…?"_

There was a very dangerous set of crossroads here. Lizzie could spare the woman's feelings and muster up an excuse or she could be painfully honest. No doubt Delilah would eventually hear about the missing girl on the news and piece together what Charlie and she had found out. What the doll's true nature was as it tried to force people to follow it to its final resting spot. That would suddenly change all of this; instead of just fear, Delilah would feel sympathy, or maybe even guilt. Maybe that same guiltless guilt that both Lizzie and Charlie had to go through.

With that, Lizzie made up her mind. There really was only one thing she could do.

"Some animatronics have built-in programming that causes them to go towards sight and sound, like when they're in a restaurant so they can find the patrons to perform to. This doll might not be a normal animatronic, but it was made by the same company that's enforced that programming in the past… So, it could be that since your house was closest to where she was, she identified it as a party room and would come at night, when the lights stood out, to try and find people to perform to."

" _That would make sense… But what about the noises I kept hearing? And how was it able to keep getting inside? It got into my bed…"_

"Honestly, I can't say. I saw some of what you've been going through last night and it was indescribable, threatening… Sometimes there's just things that you can't explain. All I know is that Ella's back with her owner and if you didn't see her after I left then that means that's where she still is," Lizzie explained. Either Delilah would obliviously live with that or eventually seek out the truth, but it wasn't the technician's job to give her that now. She needed consoling, not another reason to be afraid.

" _I hope so… But if she does come back tonight-?"_

"She won't, I can almost guarantee you… But if she does, do call us back. I'll give you our off-hours number, call us at any time and we can come by and get her. Again, _if_ she appears, which I highly doubt."

" _Thank you so much for everything. I couldn't have gone on like that much longer. If I just had to go through one more night of it, I don't even want to think about what could've happened. Thank you."_

Lizzie smiled a little. "You're very welcome. You take care of yourself," she said, gave the other number, and they said their goodbyes before the call ended. She collapsed back into the chair and stared up at the ceiling tiredly. Finally, _finally_ , it was over. The case would be closed and within a few days it would be little more than a bad memory. By then the ache in her chest would recede and life would go on like normal.

But she wouldn't be looking at porcelain dolls the same way again. Not anymore.

_**FIN** _


End file.
